īˈdōləm noun
( plural ido·la -lə)
Etymology: in sense 1, from Latin & Greek; Latin, phantom, image, from Greek eidōlon phantom, image, idol; in sense 2, New Latin, from Late Latin, idol, from Greek eidōlon — more at idol
1. : eidolon
2. : a form of false thinking : fallacy , idol 5 ; specifically : one of the four varieties of fallacy distinguished by Francis Bacon in his Novum Organum (1620) — compare idols of the cave , idols of the forum , idols of the theater , idols of the tribe